


A Mentor's Many Injuries

by Pickledpumpkinpoppers (Stormrace)



Category: DCU, DCU (Comics), The Flash (Comics)
Genre: Gen, Genderswap, Genderswapped Barry Allan and Wally West
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-09
Updated: 2019-06-09
Packaged: 2019-07-28 11:44:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16240934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stormrace/pseuds/Pickledpumpkinpoppers
Summary: A series of one shots of a genderbent Kid Flash witnessing various injuries and low points her mentor goes through over the years. From sprained ankles to mental breakdowns to hours of surgery, Wally sees far more than anyone ever wanted.





	1. Chapter 1

Wally liked Sue Dibney well enough, she actually liked her a ton, but she wasn’t Berry, and Berry was the one that had promised to spend the whole day with her. But, of course, Justice League business had come up, and Berry was needed. So, Wally was sent up to the Watchtower, since Uncle Ira was in Hollywood for a story right now, and she was left with Sue for however long it was going to take for the league to deal with whatever was going on. Being left alone on the Watchtower the first fives times had been awesome and amazing, but not being a member of the league made it so she couldn’t read anything in their library, look through their trophy room, or have fun in the training room without supervision. She was stuck playing game after game of checkers with Sue, which was not fun, even if they did call it space checkers.

“Are you sure we can’t listen in on what they’re doing?”

“No matter how hard I try, I can’t figure out how to patch myself in,” Sue sighed, triple jumping and crowning her piece, “They are all really touchy about non-members messing with their stuff. I haven’t been able to convince Ralph to let me since I started waiting up here. I think they just don’t want me to worry.”

“But it’s so boring!”

“I know, but they say they don’t want to run the risk of anyone that isn’t them messing up their frequencies, or something like that.”

Wally slumped down and intentionally moved her last piece into a place where she would lose it, not wanting to go through the motions of playing anymore. She looked toward the door to the monitor room, where she knew Aquaman was monitoring the current mission. The door was locked, but that didn’t seem like it would be too much of a problem. Not since she’d overheard Berry and Green Lantern talking about override codes to that door specifically. The problem would be keeping Aquaman from noticing and kicking them out right away.

Maybe the mission was intense, and he wouldn’t be paying attention to them at all. If he wasn’t, though, Wally knew that there was a serious lecture and disappointed frown waiting for her from Berry. It wouldn’t be fun. But it couldn’t be any worse than playing the thousand-and-first game of space chess for another three hours. At least getting in trouble would be something to do.

Inwardly talking herself into it, Wally started opening the door before she could talk herself out of it, and Sue was right behind her.

Aquaman was by the console, engrossed in listening to the information coming in over the comms, and he either didn’t notice them coming in, or didn’t care at this moment. Wally and Sue hurried behind one of the massive computer consoles, that just so happened to be right across from the zeta tube, and listened in.

“They’re down,” it sounded like most of the action was over, so that was a little disappointing. On the bright side, that meant that Berry would be back soon, and their day would get back on track! She might even dodge trouble if she and Sue made it back into their little, boring room before the league got back.

“Zeta tubes are clear!”

“Then get her up to medical, now!”

Medical? Who was hurt? What if it was Berry? What had they been fighting? What if it was really bad? Wally strained her ears to hear someone say who was being brought to medical, but things were mostly quiet now.

The tube glowed and the image of three figures appeared, on slumped between the others, and, in a second, they fully materialized. Wally felt her heart jump into the back of her throat when she recognized her mentor’s bright, red suit on the slumped figure.

“Almost there, Berry,” Hawkman assured the speedster, moving in a carefully smooth and synchronized with Batman as they stepped onto the floor.

“Wally can’t see this! Wally can’t see this!” Berry’s voice sounded thick and strained.

“She won’t, Berry. She’s with Sue in the conference room,” Batman assured her, “She won’t see this.”

“You have to call Ira! Wally needs-”

“Berry, we’ll take care of it. Right now, you need to concentrate on yourself. Wally will be all right, you are the one that’s doing bad.”

“But I’m responsi-”

“What happened?” Aquaman hurried up to them.

“She got caught in some crossfire,” Batman and Hawkman didn’t pause in moving across the room, “Get Dr. Midnite up here!”

Aquaman returned to the console to do as told, and the trio continued on. Sue suddenly yanked Wally back so she couldn’t see them all anymore. Wally opened her mouth to protest, then realized that it was a bad idea to do so, and went back to look again, her curiosity to see what was wrong with her mentor overriding any thought to how bad it might be.

“Wally, don’t!” Sue hissed.

Wally ignored Sue’s order and looked around the tube again, and loudly choked on air. The three heads snapping in her direction barely registered, and what everyone was saying was muffled and distant. Wally’s full attention was on the slashes and thick spines all over Berry’s back, the blood staining the tops of her bright, yellow boots. It was gruesome, it burned into her mind, and it made her sick.

When she finished spilling her guts all over the floor, an angry sea king escorted her and Sue back into the conference room and barked at them to stay there as he left. He didn’t say anything about what was going on, he didn’t give any assurances, and he made sure that Wally couldn’t get through the door.

An hour went by, then two, and Wally spent it all crying, before the door opened and Batman and Sue’s husband, Elongated Man, came through. Elongated Man went directly to his wife and they moved off to the side, talking in quiet tones, while Batman came and sat down in the chair beside Wally.

“Berry is going to be okay,” Batman started calmly, “Surgery went well and she’s going to be fine. She’s resting right now, so we’ve called your uncle, and he’s coming as soon as he can. Until then, I think it is pretty clear that there is something else that we need to talk about.”

Wally swallowed and stared down at her fidgeting hands. She knew she was in trouble, big trouble, and she wondered if she was spending her last few moments of being allowed on the Watchtower. She’d broken rules before, and Berry always gave her a serious scolding, but this wasn’t like those other times.

“What happened today, a member of the league getting hurt so bad, is not the norm. But when it does happen, it’s not any better than what you saw. You shouldn’t have seen that, no one wanted you to see that, no matter who it was. That’s why we, that’s why Berry, wanted you to stay in here while we handled the mission. Because it happens just often enough, we wanted to protect you from having to live with that kind of image in your mind while you are still so young.”

“I’m sorry,” Wally whispered, feeling her face heat up as scalding tears flooded from her eyes.

“I’m sorry too,” Batman put a comforting hand on her shoulder and silently let her cry. People could say what they wanted about Gotham’s dark knight, Wally had heard Green Lantern complaining to Berry often enough, but he was patient and unobtrusive.

“Batman?” Superman appeared in the door way.

“What?”

“Flash is awake, and she’s asking for Kid Flash.”

“Alright, thank you,” Batman stood up and looked down at her, “Are you ready to go see her?”

Wally nodded furiously and resisted using her superspeed to run to the medical bay. She knew where it was, she knew she could get there in just two seconds, but she didn’t want to press her luck after earlier. So, she followed Batman through the halls of the space station until the stinging scent of antiseptic filled her nose and she was standing in the doorway of the recovery room.

Berry was laying on her stomach, face colourless and looking so exhausted, Wally hesitated going in. Resting after injuries was important to a speedster, and Wally didn’t want to get in the way of that. And Wally’s mind couldn’t help but superimpose the sight of Berry’s bloody back over the blue blanket hiding the wounds away. It would just be better if she just left. “Wally?” Berry’s tired eyes had flicked over to the doorway and caught sight of her. There was no going back. Wally walked over beside the bed, and stood there, unsure of what she should say.

Berry smiled a little sadly and patted the space on the bed beside her. Wally looked back at the door and found that it was closed, they were alone. She carefully moved onto the bed, and moved as close as she could to her mentor, beginning to tremble when she felt Berry put an arm around her.

“It’s okay,” Berry placed a kiss into Wally’s hair, “Everything’s all right now. It’s okay.”

“I’m sorry!” Wally couldn’t hold it back. She needed to apologize and have Berry forgive her! “I’m sorry! I know I shouldn’t have done it! I’m sorry!”

“Don’t worry, kiddo,” Berry’s voice was thick and sleepy, “Everyone makes mistakes, and I’m going to be right here to help you through this one. Alright?”

“Please!”

“Please what?”

“Please, don’t get hurt like that again!”

“I can’t promise that, Wally,” Berry now looked apologetic, “I would if I could, but I can’t. I can only promise that I’ll do my very best to make sure that you are safe.”  
That wasn’t what Wally wanted to hear, but she knew it was the truth. It was coming from the most honest person Wally had ever known, so it was as good as gospel. She didn’t want Berry to keep her safe, she wanted Berry to keep herself safe! She’d once thought that The Flash was too fast for anyone to hurt, and now that she knew otherwise, she was scared. Berry was the best thing that had ever happened to Wally, and she would do anything to keep from losing her. END


	2. Fear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fear toxin even works on speedsters.

Wally was used to waking up in the middle of the night because Berry was returning from handling an emergency. Waking up was followed by a prickle of annoyance that Berry had not taken her along for whatever it was. They were partners, even if Wally had already been asleep, and that meant Berry didn't have to work alone. The Flash was one of the best heroes on her own, but she was even better with Kid Flash watching her back.

She heard something break downstairs, possibly a dish, then decided to go down to see if Berry was all right. Knowing her guardian, she was going to have to break out the medical kit they kept.

No lights were on in the house. Wally crept through the hall, down to the kitchen when she didn't see Berry anywhere else. She took in the broken glass and water on the floor, the tap still running, the audible sobs, hushed words and two figures curled up together on the floor. Wally quickly ducked behind the wall next to the doorway and listened in.

“...okay,” she heard Jay Gerrick’s voice, “You are going to be okay. It's over. He can’t hurt you anymore.”

Was Professor Zoom back in town? Wally’s hand fisted as she thought about that psychopath daring to come back, even after Berry left him for dead near the end of time. If he was, Wally wanted to see him, make him pay for what he had done to Berry and for taking Uncle Ira away.

“I saw him! I saw him! I saw him!” Berry was frantically sobbing out.

“No,” Jay was using that tone all heroes had to calm hysterical civilians, “It wasn't him. I promise, it wasn't him. He won't come back. Wally isn't in danger. Everything is going to be all right. It's okay.”

For an hour, there was little more than Berry sobbing and Jay soothing her. Wally knew she wasn't supposed to be there. Berry wouldn't say anything against it, if she knew, but Wally knew she wouldn't like it.

She dashed up the stairs when the sobs ceased and things went silent. She listened and it wasn't long before she heard someone trudge up the stairs with a groan. She heard them in the hall, then in Berry’s room, then going back down the stairs. Sleep encroached not long after, her mind not so worried knowing that Jay was taking care of Berry.

When she traipsed downstairs in the morning, it was Jay in the kitchen to greet her. The first Flash offered a smile and opened the freezer to pull out a few boxes of waffles, because for all of Jay’s qualities and skills, he was an awful cook.

“What are you doing here?” Wally knew Jay wouldn't take offense to the question.

“Berry had an encounter with fear toxin last night. She’s going to be fine, but she might be feeling rather rough for the next couple of days.”

“So Thawne isn’t back?” Jay turned and set the freshly toasted waffles in front of Wally, a deep frown on his face.

“You overheard?”

“Yeah,” Wally started digging into breakfast, not looking up.

“Wally, he’s not back,” Jay sounded like he was so tired of saying that, “And he is not going to come back.”

“Okay,” Wally smiled, wanting to be as easy as she possibly could this morning, because Jay looked so exhausted.

Jay accepted that and picked up his mug of coffee. He looked ready to drop right into bed at the first opportunity. Had he slept at all the night before? If he hadn’t, was it a good idea for him to drink caffeine right now? Wouldn't that keep him wired for hours? Wally didn't remember ever seeing Jay drink coffee before, so she had never given a single thought to it before.

“Wally, are you ready for school?” Berry walked into the kitchen, looking worse than the time she’d been infected by a stomach flu that had been strong enough to take down Superman for a week. Red eyes sunk into grey tinted skin, somehow making her face look hollow. Her bruised and cut hands shook as they held and dug through her purse. It couldn't be possible, but it looked like Berry had lost enough weight to almost be skeletal overnight. It looked like the slightest touch would break Berry Allen.

“Uh, yeah,” Wally tried to swallow the lump in her throat after seeing her closest family flinch at the sound of her voice.

“Berry,” Jay’s tone was low and soft, back to the one from the night before, “Are you planning to go to work?”

“Yes,” Berry’s voice was so defensive and shaky, “Of course. Why wouldn't I?”

“Wally, how about you go get your school things together?” Wally listened to Jay, a little happy to be sent away so she didn't have to see Berry, though she didn't go far.

“I already called in sick for you and I am taking care of everything else,” Jay said after a long moment, “I know why you didn't want me to do that, and I’m sorry if it feels like I overstepped, but your health is far more important than any of that. Take today and the weekend, do whatever you have to do to make yourself feel safe until the toxin has fully worn off, and then you may get upset with me. Until then, don’t try to drive, don’t try to go to work, and maybe don't try to cook either.”

“Okay,” the lack of fight was a relief. Wally zipped upstairs before Berry or Jay could come out of the kitchen.

Hurrying back down the stairs a few minutes later, she bumped into Berry, making her jump and bite back a small cry.

“I’m sorry! I didn't mean to!” Wally rushed out. After a moment, she was wrapped in the kind of tight hug that only one person could give to make her feel better.

“Don’t worry, kiddo,” a kiss was dropped into her hair, “Have a good day. Love you.”

Berry dashed upstairs, breaking the no speed in the house rule she enforced more than curfew. She didn't reappear.

“Time for school, Walls,” Jay led the way to the car.

Berry was gone when they came back that afternoon. A quick search led to them finding a message from Hal Jordan saying that she was with him.

Berry was gone for two, long days. Jay was awesome, he really was, but he didn't know how to cook, he didn't have a cellphone and he didn't know what Wally was or was not supposed to do, so he didn't let Wally go off by herself at all. It led to a boring couple of days that threatened to melt Wally’s brain.

She was in the living room, hanging upside down on the couch and flipping through channels when the front door opened.

“Berry!”

“Whoa!” Wally ignored Berry nearly falling over and just squeezed around her middle even tighter, “Hey, kid. I guess you missed me?”

“Are you all better now?” Wally didn't want to look up to see if she had scared Berry.

“Yeah,” Wally heard a smiled as Berry’s hand stroked through her hair, “All better, and I’m starved. Do we still have a kitchen?”

“Berry,” Jay came out of the den, coming out from doing whatever it was that had been taking up the majority of his time, “How are you feeling?”

“Great,” Berry moved Wally to her side, keeping her arm around Wally’s skinny shoulders as she started walking across the room, “You hungry? I was just about to get Wally to help me make pork chops.”

“As long as I am not the one cooking, I would love to.”

Wally knew she and Jay were watching Berry closely as they sat in the kitchen, helping with this and that. She flinched three times, but she did seem to be fine. By the time they finished eating and dishes were all dried and put back, Jay seemed satisfied enough about Berry being back to normal and left soon after.

Wally wasn't satisfied. She never forgot what happened, and she never stopped watching for those flickers of fear on Berry’s face.

End


	3. Chapter 3

“What happened? Are you hurt?” Kid Flash ducked under a wall of flying icicles and crouched beside the Flash, who had not moved in the last minute.

“My foot got stuck, but I'm fine,” Flash gave an embarrassed smile, “And I needed you over here anyway. I know you don’t like to do it, but I need you to go vibrate through that ice wall.”

“But, you know what happens when-“

“That's what I need right now.”

Kid Flash wasn't so sure about doing it, blowing up an ice wall would send sharp shards as dangerous as broken glass everywhere, but she knew that Flash must have a plan that needed it.

“It's going to be all right, kid. Just vibrate through and find cover. I’ll take care of the rest.”

“Okay,” Kid Flash swallowed and peeked around the car. The ice wall sealing off the bank was a few yards away, not a hard run, and Snart was facing the other way to argue with Golden Glider so he wouldn't be a problem.

“You can do this, kid,” Berry put a hand on her shoulder and smiled.

Kid Flash turned around and zapped off. She bolted across the street, vibrating at that frequency that always made her nervous, and went right through the wall. She grabbed three civilians and dove behind the tellers desk. She heard the ice explode and peeked over the desk the moment the shards stopped flying.

She saw Flash outside, standing over a tied up brother and sister duo and grinning at the officers suddenly swarming the area. It looked like she was making terrible puns and jokes, if the laughter from the officers was anything to go by. But she wasn't standing right. She looked like she was leaning all of her weight on her left leg. She never did that.

Kid Flash scowled and dashed over to her mentor’s side.

“See you guys later,” Flash slung an arm around Kid Flash’s shoulders and turned them away, “Tell you what, KF, I’ll race you to the closest burger joint to celebrate beating these two losers again. Ready?”

“You're hurt,” she wasn't going to be distracted, no matter how hungry she was, “You told me you were fine!”

“I am fine,” Flash continued to smile, “It's just a sprain. Let's get something to eat.”

“Don't you have to put that on ice?”

“Later. I think a burger would do a ton more to make me feel better right now,” Flash started walking with the slightest bit of a limp, “Come on. First one there gets two milkshakes.”

“But-“ Flash was already heading down the street. Wally rushed after her.

Arriving at the burger joint, there was no fuss about Flash and her sidekick sitting down at the table, even if their was a steady stream of eager kids and bashful adults coming over to ask for autographs and pictures until their food came.

“You shouldn't run on a sprain,” Kid Flash scowled over the three milkshakes, four burgers and a mountain of french fries, “You keep telling me that!”

“Don't worry about it,” Flash insisted, “It's not the first time I've gotten a sprain, so I know it is a very light sprain I don't have to worry about. I have the experience to know how hard I can go before I start hurting myself. It is okay.”

“I don't think the league would agree,” Kid Flash ducked down from Flash’s glare, knowing that was the thinnest ice to step on, “Just saying.”

“Probably not,” Flash shrugged, “So, how is school going? Do you need more help with anything?”

“It's good,” Kid Flash kept looking down at her food.

Flash sighed, “As soon as we finish here, I’ll go home and ice it, okay?”

Kid Flash nodded and set about eagerly inhaling the food on her plate, content for now. Flash didn't seem to be in much of a hurry, doing her normal shtick of chatting with everyone around and listening to kids tell made up stories about their own heroics. It wasn't long before Kid Flash was waiting impatiently for the last kid to just stop talking.

“We have important things we need to get to, Flash!” that eventually did the trick. Flash almost reluctantly let herself be dragged out of the burger joint and then limped home with the tiniest roll of her eyes, then meandered about the house to do some chores for a full fifteen minutes, before she finally stopped to ice her injury.

“It's really nothing, Wally,” Berry pulled back her cowl as she started going through work papers, having nothing else to do while her swelling ankle was being treated.

“Yeah, nothing,” Wally turned away, wondering why she felt more awful about this than Berry did, “It's always nothing.”

End


	4. Chapter 4

Blankets, bandages, sterile equipment, clean water and protein bars, Wally didn’t know how long she had been ferrying these items from place to place, and she was starting to get tired. Which meant she was in a better state than most of the others relegated to providing these supplies to the overcrowded hospitals and makeshift emergency rooms that had been set up all over the four cities that had been attacked. She didn’t know if it had just been a day, or a whole week since this madness had started. She didn’t know if the Justice League had completely neutralized whatever had attacked everyone, she hadn’t seen them since Flash had stopped by one of the hospitals to drop off a baby that had suddenly become an orphan, said that things were getting really ugly, and then disappeared with Wonder Woman to shore up the perimeter, Wally hadn’t even realized they had formed a perimeter. She just didn’t know anything about anything right now.

The flow of new patients suddenly stopped and the desperate need for supplies slowed to the point where she could finally go back to her aunt’s house and collapse on the couch. She was too tired to even kick off her boots as she melted into the ultra-soft cushions and idly watched the news, hoping to see the league, mostly just the Flash, until her exhaustion hit her hard and she couldn’t keep her eyes open.

When she woke up, it was to the smell of chili and the sound of low conversation coming from the kitchen. She groaned as she tried to move, noting that her boots had been replaced a by blanket that had been draped over her and that the tv had been switched off, and the noise was a little louder than she might have wanted. The quiet murmuring from the kitchen went quiet, and Berry appeared in the doorway, huge bowl of food in one hand, and a load of heat pads on her arm.

“Hey, kid,” Berry smiled, though there was a huge collage of fading bruises littered across the whole left side of her face and she appeared to be limping a little, “I hope you’re hungry, Batman insisted on buying, and there is a ton that everyone insisted I bring home for you.”

“How long have you been home?”

“Twenty minutes, maybe,” Berry sat down, setting the food on the coffee table, “We should get you out of the costume, you’ll feel better.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Wally hissed when she reached for the zipper.

“Need help?”

“Please?”

Berry gently helped her slip the top off, and it was painful even with how careful they were, then handed her a pair of loose shorts and t-shirt while she made the Kid Flash costume disappear into the pile of laundry Wally had brought from college. Then, the chili was set in her lap and Berry started applying deliciously warm pads to her sore muscles.

“Thank you, Wally, for helping with the relief efforts. I know you don’t want to be apart of this anymore, and it means a lot to me that you helped the people I couldn’t.”

“Running medical supplies wasn’t hard. What were you doing?” Wally bent her head, to hide the redness heating up her face. Praise was something she had always craved from Berry, even if she certainly got it more often than Dick got it from Batman, but it was still a little hard for her to accept graciously. It made her feel like her twelve-year-old self, unsure and with the lowest self esteem she’d ever had. She didn’t like feeling like that.

She listened to Berry detail the long, exhausting process of rounding up the bug-men, tracing them back to the hive minds controlling them, taking quite a sound beating, and then destroying them. It sounded a thousand times more difficult and harrowing than just making a few thousand deliveries, but that was just something Berry did, because she was the Flash, and the Flash was the greatest hero in the world. Wally leaned into Berry, warmth of happy contentment spreading through her.

“Who was that, in the kitchen with you?” Wally asked after Berry had fallen silent.

“Hal came by for a little bit, but he had to get back to Farris Air.”

“Right when I woke up?”

“Are you disappointed?”

“Not really,” Hal was a good guy, Wally didn’t mind him being around now that she had come to term with Berry moving on and dating again, but she wasn’t exactly broken up about spending one on one time with Berry either.

Wally shifted to lean even more against Berry, and froze at the sound of the hiss of pain her mentor could disguise.

“How bad are you hurt?” Wally sat up and turned around to face her, catching the tightness around her eyes and mouth, “What happened?”

“I cracked my ribs a little,” Berry shrugged, settling back, “I got off pretty easy compared to Ralph and Red Tornado.”

“Easy?”

“It’s already half healed, I promise. I’m fine. Want some more chili? I really need you to eat as much as you can, I don't want the guys at the lab to think I can cook.”

“Maybe later,” Wally curled into Berry again. She just wanted to stay here, so neither of them were miserable alone.

END


	5. Christmas

Ever since Uncle Ira died, Flash usually spent Christmas out on the streets, keeping a sharp eye on the bridges, checking in on businesses, watching out for general trouble, and only able to appear at home for a few sparse moments at a time. Wally had tried to tag along once, but seeing just how many people went to the bridge had made her sick and useless. So, Wally typically now spent Christmas with the Titans, and tried not to think of her aunt out and alone in the snow. But this year was different.

The morning of Christmas Eve was always the time she and Berry would exchange gifts and have their little celebration. They would sit on the floor, open presents, eat Chinese takeout, watch crappy Christmas cartoons and breathe in the smell of the cooking turkey Berry insisted on making every year, and sent with Wally to Titan Tower. It wasn't completely what Wally wanted, and she hoarded the moments of those mornings with a serious passion, starting them by crawling into Berry’s bed the night before so they would wake up at the same time.

The obnoxious buzzing sounded at the ungodly hour of 3 a.m.. They both jolted awake and Berry was already up when Wally unknowingly scrambled to latch onto her. Wally sat up and scrubbed at her eyes, determined to wake herself up completely.

“Dammit!” Berry hissed in the dark, “Justice League business. Go back to sleep, kiddo. I’ll be back in the morning. Love you.”

Wally felt a quick kiss on her forehead and just made out the blur of her aunt leaving, then dropped right back off to sleep.

The sound of a pan crashing to the floor snapped her awake. The sun was looking through the window and the clock proudly stating 7 a.m. in the digital, green numbers. She stumbled out of bed and rushed down the stairs to the kitchen.

She heard laughter and turned the corner to find Hal Jordan hugging the turkey roaster to his chest like it was a baby or something, and Berry.

“What happened?” Wally stared at the casts on Berry’s right leg and arm, and the large bandage stuck to the right side of her face.

“Morning, Wally,” Berry wheezed out between laughter, “Merry Christmas! Hal is just trying to cook the turkey.”

“No, how'd you get hurt?”

“I slipped on some ice and crashed. I'm going to be off my feet for about a week. Sorry, kid.”

Wally knew that she shouldn't be excited over Berry injuring herself, especially not so bad she needed to take a week off being the Flash and one of her JL buddies to keep an eye on her, but Berry was staying home for Christmas! For the first time in years, Christmas Eve and Christmas were going to happen at home!

She hugged Berry tight, as much as she could without worrying about hurting her, and watched as Hal Jordan tried to find his way around the pitfalls of cooking. The man looked so lost, he eventually sighed and walked over to the table.

“All right, you win,” he sighed, “How the hell do we cook the turkey?”

Wally helped Hal finish the prep Berry had done the night before, under Berry’s strict instructions, and soon had the turkey in the oven. Wally wondered if Hal was planning to stay the whole day, but found she didn't mind with how much he was able to make Berry laugh and smile at his antics.

Berry was always enthusiastic about gift time, excited about both parts of the exchange, but that seemed dialed up to a thousand this time. Wally kept steadfastly by Berry’s side, not giving away her place for a moment, but she liked how Hal still involved himself in every part because it didn't seem like there was a ghost looking over their shoulders.

He jokingly oohed and awed all the gifts, acted like the socks Berry gave him were the best things to happen ever, and loudly questioned the fantasy of the stupid cartoons. Then they all braved the kitchen to try to make a decent Christmas dinner.

Wally made a quick call to the Titans to tell them that she was staying home this year. They were a little disappointed, but they did understand, and they were happy for her. They were quick to demand whatever turkey leftovers there would be, and then let her go once she promised she would do that.

“You stay sitting there!” Hal was ordering Berry and using his ring to keep her in her seat, “Wally and I are getting a handle on this. So you just sit there and boss us around. Got it?”

Wally decided that she liked Hal.

Prep didn't take long, not with Wally using her superspeed, and the smell of cooking meat started to grow tantalizing. Berry guided them step by step through the actual cooking, and setting the table, carving the turkey properly and then clean up.

Hal stuck around until late, just a little after Berry fell asleep in the middle of an admittedly boring game of Go Fish.

“Sorry if it felt like I ruined anything,” he put on his coat, “I just needed to make sure she didn't…you know.”  
“You didn't ruin anything. It was nice. Thank you. For caring.”

“Later, kid,” he disappeared through the door.

Wally got ready for bed, then crawled into bed with Berry again.

“Merry Christmas, Wally,” Berry whispered sleepily.

“Merry Christmas, “ she answered, then snuggled close to her guardian. As she drifted off, she couldn't help but think about how this had been the best Christmas she’d had in years, and smile.


	6. Chapter 6

Assassins were not the norm in Central City, or they were and they were just good enough to not be noticed at all, so Flash did not encounter them much; typically only when she worked with Batman or Green Lantern. So, when she was asked by police to help guard the special witness, and she heard the size of the bounty on their head, she decided to call in some back-up. Not that it did her much good in the end.

Flash needed some air after four hours cooped up in a house with the stressed and uptight agents, so she decided to make a quick patrol of their set perimeter. She thought about taking coffee to the three people helping her out, but that would either mean trying to explain the three cups to the jittery marshals, or leaving, which she was not comfortable with doing. So, no coffee for them.

“Hey,” she made sure she wasn't too close to Batman before speaking, “how’s it going?”

“You’re supposed to be inside,” he didn't look at her.

“I need five minutes. Anything going on out here?”

“It's quiet right now. If something is going to happen, expect it in the next two hours. You should get back inside.”

“I’m just taking a tiny break. I’ll be back in there in three minutes. Don’t worry. I’ve got you guys around for a reason.”

“Because you were worried.”

Flash couldn't help a quiet laugh, “Yeah, you got me there. I’ll talk to you later.”

She was going to take a lap around the six surrounding blocks, check on Black Canary and Green Lantern, then go back inside. This was only going to be a short break, because anything longer would make the agents and witness far more antsy than would be safe. She was currently rethinking her willingness to play bodyguard for high profile witnesses in the future. If they were always this tense, while still being so boring, she didn't think she could handle it.

It was only luck, Flash could admit that, that she noticed the two suspicious individuals creeping up an alley toward the safe house.

“Hey,” she loved it when she could startle people by appearing out of nowhere to them, not that she would ever admit it out loud, “You guys doing okay?”

“We’re fine,” the man slipped his arm around the girl’s shoulders, and smiled. They looked like they were trying to be casual. Trying so hard, “Just heading home.”

“You probably shouldn’t go through alleyways then. This isn't Gotham, but it makes my job easier when lawful citizens are staying safe by walking on the main streets with actual lighting when it's dark.”

“We’ve done this before, we're fine,” the woman spoke up, sounding irritated.

“You sure? I come this way a lot at all times, and I don't think I’ve ever seen you two here before. You guys new?”

“Yeah, just moved in down the street,” the girl tossed her hair and that was all Flash needed when it exposed a tattoo she knew she had seen in the Justice League database. She knocked them out quick, they never saw her coming, disarmed them and used their own belts to tie them up. Busy with that, she never saw the attack coming.

Her leg gave out from under her, and she had cried out before she even fully realized that there was a small knife sticking in her thigh. She turned to look at where it had come from, already knowing she had screwed up, but that was why she had back-up.

“Flash here, we’ve got company. I-“ she dodged another knife, falling over and biting her sleeve to keep her scream of agony silent, “I can't talk now.”

Flash forced herself to stand as the third assassin came closer. This was as painful as all heck, but she wasn't going to let the witness get killed. She launched forward and was satisfied when she forced the assassin back into a wall, hard enough to injure. Short lived satisfaction when her shoulder was made victim to another blade.

She vibrated through the next stabbing attempt, punched with her good arm. The rest of the fight was a blur of pain where three more knives were forced into her, until she was on the ground barely able to breathe as the assassin stumbled to her feet and disappeared.

Flash turned her head over and vomited from the pain. Well, five knives was bad. Very bad. She shouldn't move, she thought, because the blades would shift and make thinks worse, the two in her side might nick something important. Staying still was the good thing to do if she wanted a chance at recovery. Moving was bad.

How long was it going to take for everyone to come looking for her? How long had it been already? What if there were other assassins making it to the house? Everyone could be busy fighting them off, and it could take a while before anyone could spare a thought for her, then a while to find her when they started looking. It already felt like it had been an hour, though she knew that was definitely wrong because she was in too much pain to control her perception of time. It didn't change the fact that she was already impatient and tired of waiting.

Bad! Bad! Wrong! Wrong! She barely made it an inch before she knew she wasn't going anywhere. She actually looked down at herself for the first time.

“Oh, god!” she nearly puked again at the sight. Five knives embedded in a body was not a pretty sight.

“Flash?” she heard Batman over her comm. Her arms were in too much pain for her to move them up to answer, “Flash, if you can, answer me right now,” he gave a long pause, “Alright, we are coming to find you.”

Good. They were looking. She felt free to stop fighting the heaviness of her eyelids. She knew that when she woke up, she would be on the Watchtower under good care.

“Berry?” Kid Flash appeared. Flash was so far gone, she only had time for one more thought before she passed out.

Damn!

To be continued…


	7. Chapter 7

Continued…

Flash woke up in the Watchtower med bay, as she assumed she had would, and sighed when she found her niece sleeping in the chair beside her bed. Said niece was supposed to be at college right now, Flash thought disapprovingly, at college studying for exams she needed to pass. Wally should not be here! She shouldn't have been there last night! Berry wanted some answers.

“Ahh!” she hissed and laid back, waiting for the pain to pass. Right. Stabbed. Five times. She wasn't getting up any time soon with the way she felt. She should have just tried the button somebody had taped to her hand first, now Wally was waking up.

“Berry?” she was rubbing her eyes the way she always done since she was five, with both fists, which still looked adorable. Flash refrained from saying that, knowing it would not be met favourably.

“What you doing here?” she settled for saying.

“You got hurt. Bad. Where else am I supposed to be?”

“No, I mean, what brought you back to Central? I thought you were buried under a mountain of textbooks you needed to get through?” keeping Wally focused on everything but the injuries was important.

“Oh, yeah. It was...” she blushed a little, “It doesn't matter now.”

“It had to be pretty important for you to run all the way home. What is it?”

“Nothing really. Do you need something?” someone around to erase Wally’s memory of this whole thing would not be terrible. She hadn't taken Flash getting hurt well ever, even before she knew it was her uncle's girlfriend. So, Flash found the hardest thing about getting injured was trying to console her kid, especially since her kid had it in her head that it was overall better if she suffered in silence over her fear of Flash being injured. Consolation was near impossible when Flash couldn't offer physical assurance.

“Who is up here right now?”

“Superman and Batman.”

“Could you get Batman for me?” Wally nodded and disappeared through the door.

Flash relaxed and started to pant, maybe whimpered a little because she was in agony. From the way she felt, she could not have been sleeping long and the knife wounds had not started to heal in earnest yet.

It couldn't have been long since Wally left before Batman arrived. Flash didn't know when she closed her eyes, only that she opened them when he started talking.

“Flash?” he was alone.

“How am I doing?”

“Well, all things considered. You’ll likely have some scarring, but that will be the extent of it.   
You're healing well, even if it doesn't feel quite like that right now.”

“The witness?”

“Still safe. Green Lantern is still there and we sent additional back-up to help move them to a less compromised location.”

“Good. Great.”

“Was there something else you wanted to talk about before Wally gets back?”

“Wally,” Flash sighed, “I can't- She shouldn't have been there, Bruce! She shouldn't be seeing this at all! I can't let her see how bad it really is, but I can't… Could you distract her for the day?”

“Alright,” Batman understood, more than most of the other members of the league. He had helped Flash hide the seriousness of injuries in the past, even from the other leaguers sometimes, “I’ll take care of it. Just rest now.”

“Thanks, Bats,” she let her eyes drift closed.

Wally wasn't there the next four times Flash woke up, it was either Superman or Wonder Woman making her drink some broth through a straw, or nobody. That was good. It was easier to not worry when she knew Wally was off busy with something.

The fifth time, she woke up felt good enough to get up on her own, and there was no one around to stop her. As was the normal case after being so seriously injured, she went straight to where she would be the most likely to find out where Wally was.

Flash was happy to find her studying in the league's library, with Batman calmly sitting by doing his own research. They were both so intensely focused on their work, Flash hesitated in interrupting. Maybe she should just get a snack and wait for them to take a break.

“You shouldn't be up yet,” of course Batman wouldn't let her.

“I’m fine,” she rushed over to Wally and wrapped her in the tightest hug she could. Physical assurance would keep the young woman calm, “How's it going, kiddo?”

“Good. I think I’ll pass.”

“You think? Are you having trouble?” Flash looked over her protégé’s shoulder

“Not really,” Wally blushed the same way as before.

“You sure? I’m always here if you need it.”

“I know,” Wally blushed deeper. Why would she be so embarrassed? This wouldn't even be the millionth time Wally asked for help, not even the first in front of a league member. Why would it be any kind of…oh. Oh!

“Is that why you came to Central? I’m so sorry!”

“Don't be sorry! It’s not your fault!” Wally looked just a little angry.

“Well, I probably should have mentioned that I was on a security detail. I’ll remember that for next time,” Flash ignore the glare, “So, what are we working on?”

Wally slowly relaxed as Flash rubbed circles on her back and they went deep into the college material. Flash almost pumped her fist when Wally fell asleep on her books, fairly self satisfied at still being able to handle her kid so well.

She tucked a little hair, it had been years since it was long enough to do that, behind Wally’s ear and then let out a tired sigh. Mission accomplished.

End.


End file.
